As others have said, this legislation is an important step forward in acknowledging that for Black Americans, freedom did not come in 1776. It did not come in 1862, with the Emancipation Proclamation. It only came two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation when word finally reached the enslaved people of Texas, on the date we recognize and celebrate — now together as a country — as Juneteenth.
In a year where racial reckoning and loss have loomed large, and the battle for voting rights is again front and center, true freedom is still elusive. But it is a fight more and more Americans are joining – a fight we continue on behalf of the generations that fought before ours. And that is something to celebrate.
With hope,
Areva Martin, Esq.
Founder and President